The Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC will meet for the first time in MLS play this season in a huge match for the playoff fortunes of both clubs Saturday afternoon at Stade Saputo. The Impact come into the game three points out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference, after their 2-1 home loss to Columbus last week. Whitecaps FC are trying to reverse a winless run, sitting five points out of the playoff positions after their scoreless draw at San Jose. The teams have met this year, the Impact winning the Canadian Championship on away goals in May.

The Montreal Impact saw their undefeated run come to an end after four games, falling 2-1 to the Columbus Crew on Saturday afternoon at Stade Saputo. The Impact are in a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with 45 points from 27 matches.

The Impact took the lead at the game's quarter mark. A Justin Mapp short corner made its way into the six-yard box, where an onrushing Marco Di Vaio powered between two Crew defenders to head home from close range.

But the Crew were able to pull even in the 66th minute. Federico Higuain curled a free kick roughly 35 yards away from goal to the far post, where Chad Marshall out-jumped a defender and crashed his header past Impact goalkeeper Troy Perkins.

Columbus then scored the stunning game-winner in the 78th minute. Higuain cleverly got past a Montreal defender and flicked a through ball with the outside of his right foot to Oduro. One-on-one against Perkins, Oduro took a subtle first-time touch and watched the ball trickle into the Montreal goal.

Impact head coach Marco Schallibaum made no changes to the team that rolled to a 4-2 win against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium

The Impact saw a three-game winning run at Stade Saputo in league play come to an end, and also a five-game home undefeated run stopped.

“When they got their goal, you could see that their confidence grew,” midfielder Davy Arnaud said. “They go and get the second, and it’s going to be tough after that, because they're in a situation where they need points. We need points every time at home as well, but they’re fighting to get back into the playoffs. So after the second goal, it was tough.”

Marco Di Vaio extended his lead atop the MLS Golden Boot standings with his 18th goal, his second consecutive match hitting the back of the net. He has scored seven goals over the last five matches, since Aug. 17.

“We had a good first half. We had a lot of chances and we controlled the game well from the first 10 minutes on,” Di Vaio said. “Columbus is a hard team for us to play against, so it was no surprise for us tonight that the game was hard.”

Patrice Bernier contributed an assist, his team-leading eighth; he has two goals and two assists over the last four matches.

On Tuesday, the Impact suffered their second consecutive away loss in the CONCACAF Champions League, falling 3-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Impact are tied for second in Group 5 with 3 points from 3 matches.

“We know that with two or three games in a week, there’s a chance to make the lineup,” midfielder Patrice Bernier said. “Everyone’s going for it. We’re competitive, even when it’s a full week's training for one spot. … If you haven’t played in a while, you want to prove you can be the first substitute or the one getting in if there’s rotation happening.”

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC

Vancouver Whitecaps FC saw their winless run reach five games, following a scoreless draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday evening at Buck Shaw Stadium. Whitecaps FC are in a tie for seventh place in the Western Conference with 38 points from 28 matches.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC goalkeeper David Ousted made two saves on the night, but was nearly beaten for an own goal in the 87th minute when Jay DeMerit’s redirection of a Marvin Chavez free kick caromed off the back post.

Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch was credited with three saves, maintaining his club's long home unbeaten streak.

Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie made three changes to the team that fell 3-1 to FC Dallas in Frisco. Lee Young-Pyo, Brad Rusin and Jun Marques Davidson all came back into the team, in place of Andy O'Brien, Johnny Leveron and Daigo Kobayashi.

Whitecaps FC saw their winless run extended to five matches, the club’s longest of the MLS season since going seven matches without a win from March 23-May 4.

“I felt both teams were really committed to getting a win and put everything into it. From our perspective, I thought it was a good performance well,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie. “We had good possession in both halves and created some decent chances. … There was a lot for us to build on and this is the time of year when you want to be winning games. The most important thing was to get a result.”

Whitecaps FC continued their three-game road swing as their winless streak away from BC Place was extended to six games. Down the stretch, five of Vancouver’s final eight games will be on the road.

“We’ve had good performances on the road. We had some wins. We’ve had some other games where we’ve had points. We’ve had some games where we have not played so well,” said Rennie. “I think if you follow all the teams in MLS, you would say it’s the same thing about their road results. But the most important thing is what you do now and if we played like we did [in San Jose] for the rest of the season, we will put ourselves in a great position.”

With center backs Johnny Leveron and Andy O'Brien unavailable due to calf and back injuries, Brad Rusin made his first appearance in central defense since suffering a severe ankle sprain against Portland on August 3.

But Rusin was forced off the field after just 31 minutes with pain in his lower leg, and Jay DeMerit made his first appearance for the club since rupturing his Achilles tendon eight minutes into the season opener March 2.

“I thought he looked well after being out for six months. The way he played tonight was inspiring. He was blocking shots at the edge of the box toward the end of the match,” said forward Kenny Miller. “He looked strong and finished strong tonight. That was one of the positives we can take from tonight moving forward as we push for the playoffs.”

Said DeMerit: “You never really know what to expect in your first game back. I didn’t have any real game-like activity over the last month of training, but I had a lot of fitness. I stay around and do fitness every day. I did have enough in the locker room to go out and perform and do my job.”

Jun Marques Davidson returned to the starting lineup for the first time since being sent off eight minutes into the 1-0 home loss to Philadelphia on July 27, playing the full 90 minutes.